Broken Car

 On our last day in Portugal, we visited Penela to collect our proof of ownership of the cottage from the Junta......

We had applied almost a week ago but the document needed stamping by the president who only worked on a Thursday, there was no way around this, we needed it to open a bank account so we just had to wait.....wheels turn slowly in Portugal!!

After collecting the document in question, we were able to open up a bank account, our final part of our visa application.We visited Credito Agricolo, the cashier spoke good English and was able to complete the whole process with us really easily.

However when we returned to the car, this is what greeted us.

Luckily there was a phone number on the windscreen and the owner of the house came out and rang it for us. An elderly man walked up to the car and attempted to talk to us in very fast Portuguese, we tried to use Google translate but were unable to see the screen due to the bright sunlight. The man walked us around to a bar where we were able to see the screen and ascertain that it was him that had hit us. We were  outside an insurance broker and he tried to take us in there but they were closed for lunch, he communicated to us that he had a cardiology hospital appointment and we agreed to meet him back at the insurance office at 4pm.

We strapped the bumper back on using bungee ropes and moved the car stopping once for an adjustment when a piece of the bumper slipped down and started dragging on the floor.

This is what our car looks like now after Steve's repair 😃😃

Whilst we waited we had coffee and played cards meeting some very interesting people who spoke English, first was a couple called Bruce and Declan then a family group Julian and Joe with their two children and finally Pam, John and Florence.

We  returned to the insurance office and was pleasantly surprised to see the old man waiting there for us, we completed an insurance claim with the office and took copies for our insurance company which we attached to our online claim.